Soap dish



J. R. PARSON SOAP DI Filed y 20. 1955 JOHN ROSS PARSO/V BY M . ATTORNE Un tat tent Thisinvention relates to a soap dish, and more particularly to a soap dish for a ledge type sink.

The ledge type sinks usually furnished at the present time by manufacturers of such equipment are provided with four holes through the ledge portion of the sink. These holes permit a faucet, a spray head, and two valve handles to be installed on the ledge in position for use. Although nearly all of the sinks of this type are initially ment has not been favored universally by housewives, and in a large number of cases, the spray heads are removed from the sinks after a relatively short period of use, or are omitted entirely.-

The removal of the spray head, or for that matter, thefailure to provide a spray head initially, leaves the user of the sink With an extra hole through the ledge. This hole must, of course, be plugged or covered in some way so as to assure that water will not pass down- Wardly through it. "In the past, the covering of such holes has usually been accomplished by means of a simple plug unit. However, the use. of such a plug is undesirable in that it leaves the sink with an unfinished equipped with a spray head, this particular piece of equip- 2,914,777 Patented Dec. 1, 1959 -Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2, and showing the unit in position on the ledge of the sink; and V Fig. 4 is a horizontal-crosssectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

The sink 2, illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, is of the ledge type which is enjoying wide popularity at the present time. Sinks of this type are furnished by many manufacturers in a variety of different models, some having a single water compartment as illustrated, and others having two such compartments. The distinguishing feature of sinks of this type is the provision of a horizontal ledge 4 defining the upper margins of the sink. Along the back of the sink, the ledge 4 is provided with four equally spacedholes therethrough, one of which is designated by the numeral 6 in Fig. 3. Three of these holes normally accommodate valve handles 8 and a faucet 10.

Prior to the present invention, the fourth hole was either plugged or provided with a spray head. However, this invention contemplates the association "with such hole of a soap dish unit indicated generally by the numeral 12. Reference to Fig. 1 will make the convenience attributable to the location of the soap dish at this point apparent to persons concerned with the use of sinks.

appearance. The fact that something is missing is quite obvious, and this detracts-from the overall visual effect produced by the sink.

'It isan object, of the present invention to provide a soap dish. unit which can be employed to plug the extra hole in the ledge of a sink from which the spray head has been removed. Such a soap dish unit is parfrom the standpoint of the visual effect produced.

The soap dish unit of this invention includes a stem passing through the hole in the ledge. of the sink and carrying a cover overlying the margins of the hole so as to prevent the entry of water into the hole. The'portion of the stern extending above the cover fits within a socket depending from one end of anelongated receptacle for a bar of soap. The upper end of the stem and the socket are shaped so that rotation of the socket relative to the stem is prevented, but so that the socket may be fitted upon the stem. indifferent angularpositions. This arrangement permits the soap receptacle to be positioned at different angles so that different space limitations may 'a single embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a ledge type sink having the soap dish unit of the present invention attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the soap dish unit of the present invention;

' the extra hole in the ledge serves to complete the sink 7 The soap dish unit 12 includes a stem 14 having a threaded lower end portion which extends through'the hole 6 in the ledge 4 of the sink as illustrated in Fig. 3. Rigid with a medial portion of the stem 14 is a cover 16. This cover 16 may be integral with the stem 14, or it may be attached thereto by soldering or welding. It is important, however, that the point betweenthe cover 16 and the stem 14 be completely watertight to prevent the leakage of Water down through the hole 6.

The lower surface of the cover 16 is concave so that it bears against the upper surface of the ledge 4 at its outer margin. A watertight seal between the outer margin of the cover 16 and the upper surface ofthe ledge 4 is achieved by means of a nut 18 threaded onto the lower end of the stem 14 and acting upon a washer 2t} bearing against the lower surface of the ledge 4. Tightening of the nut 18 applies pressure to the cover 16 to force its margin into close contact with the upper surface of the ledge. It should be noted that the concave lower surface of the cover 16 eliminates any problems which might otherwise be associated with the deflection of the cover 16 under the load imposed upon it during the tightening of the nut 18; even though the center portion of the cover 16 may be deflected downwardly, there is no bearing area which would serve as a fulcrum for the lifting of the outer margin of the cover to break the, seal between such margin and the top surface of the ledge.

The upper end portion of the stem 14 is square in cross section as indicated in Fig. 4. Cooperating with the upper end portion of the stem 14 is a socket 22 in a projection 24 which depends from one end of an elongated receptacle '26 for a bar of soap. The socket 22 conforms generally in shape to the upper end portion of the stem 14. However, instead of being perfectly square, the walls of the socket preferably have cut-away portions such as those disclosed in the patent to Mueller No. 1,794,638, granted March 3, 1931, to permit the escape of air from the socket as the socket is being fitted onto the upper end portion of the stem 14. The cooperating relationship between the upper end portion of the stem 14 and the socket 22 prevents rotation of the socket relative to the stem, but permits the socket to be fitted onto the stem in different angular positions relative thereto, and the socket 22 normally bears down on the cover 16, as shown in Fig. 3.

Itshould be noted that the soap receptacle 26 may be removed from the stem 14 whenever desired by simply lifting it upwardly. This facilitates cleaning of the soap dish when that becomes necessary. a

The disposition of the socket 22 near one end of the elongated soap receptacle 26 has important practical advantages. A better appreciation of this feature may be gained by considering the dimensions of the structural elements encountered in typical ledge type sinks. The centers of the four holes along the back of the ledge are normally 4 inches apart, and the handles for the valves vary in length from about 2 to 2% inches. The length of a handle consequently is such as to impose rather exacting space limitations upon another piece of equipment disposed in an adjacent hole. A soap receptacle of approximately 3 inches width and 5 inches length, a size adapted to support a normal bar of soap, could not be positioned lengthwise along the rear of the ledge if it were provided with a center support such as is usually provided for soap receptacles. However, with the socket at the end, as illustrated, there is no danger of interference from the soap dish during the manipulation of the valve.

Moreover, it is pointed out that the soap dish of this invention with the socket at one end thereof may be disposed on either side of the sink so as to accommodate the hole arrangements of sinks of different manufacture. The soap dish may also be disposed so that its longitudinal axis extends transversely with respect to the line of holes in the ledge of the sink. This particular arrangement positions the bar of soap out over the water compartment of the sink, and it may be preferred in some instances as being more convenient to use and as reducing the amount of drippage which must be removed from the ledge during cleaning.

Although the soap receptacle 26 may be disposed in different angular positions about the axis of the stem 14, it is pointed out that in each one of such positions it is fixed in the sense that it will not rotate relative to the stern. As a result, the housewife is saved the annoyance occasioned by the necessity for positioning the fixture in the desired location after each use.

Although a single embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, it will be apparent that various modifications may be made. It is intended, therefore, that this description should be considered as exemplary only, and that the scope of the invention be ascertained from the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a ledge type sink having a hole through the ledge thereof, the improvement which comprises a stern member extending vertically through said hole and having a threaded lower end portion, a cover rigid with said stem member and surrounding a medial portion of said stem in watertight relation thereto, said cover having a concave lower surface completely overlying the margins of said hole, means threadedly engaging said lower end portion of said stern member and bearing against the lower surface of said ledge to draw the outer margin of said lower surface of the cover into watertight engagement with the upper surface of said ledge, an elongated receptacle for supporting a bar of soap, and means forming a downwardly opening socket near one end of said receptacle, the walls of said socket including a plurality of vertical faces disposed about the central axis of the socket, said stem member including an upper end portion fitting within said socket to support said receptacle, said upper end portion of said stem member including a plurality of vertical faces cooperating with said faces of said socket to prevent rotation thereof about said stem but permitting said socket to be fitted upon said upper end portion in different angular positions.

2. In a ledge-type sink having a ledge and a faucet and control valves mounted on the ledge, said ledge having an opening therein in close proximity to the faucet and control valves, the combination therewith, of an elongated soap dish, and means mounting the soap dish in the opening of the ledge, said mounting means including a socket connection adjacent one end of the soap dish and displacing the major portion of the length of the soap dish away from the faucet and valves.

3. A combined hole plug and soap dish construction for a ledge type sink having a hole through the ledge thereof, comprising a stern adapted to extend through the hole in said ledge, a dished thin metal cover surrounding a medial portion of said stem and'mounted thereon in watertight relation thereto, said cover overlying the margins of the hole and form a watertight joint with the upper surface of the ledge, said stem having a threaded lower end portion, means threadedly engaging said thread ed portion of said stem and bearing against the lower surface of the ledge, a receptacle for supporting a bar of soap, and a socket projection on the lower side of said receptacle extending downwardly therefrom adjacent one end of said receptacle and telescoped over the upper end of the stem.

4. In combination, a ledge-type sink having a ledge and a faucet and control valves mounted on the ledge, said ledge having an opening therein in close proximity to the faucet and control valves, an elongated soap dish, and means mounting the soap dish in the opening of the ledge, said mounting means comprising a socket on the underside of said dish adjacent one end thereof and displacing the major portion of the length of the soap dish away from the faucet and control valves, a stem having an upper end with angularly related vertical faces detachably and nonrotatably adjustably fitted in said socket, a downwardly dished cover rigid with said stern and overlying the margin of said opening, the lower end of said socket bearing on said dished cover to hold the top of the socket base above the top of the stern, and means threadedly engaging the lower end of the stem and bearing against the lower surface of said ledge to draw said cover in watertight engagement with the upper surface of said 

